Andrew Iwach, MD Chair
Contact email: media@aao.org
Since becoming a fellow of the Academy in 1991, Dr. Iwach has been active in many facets of our organization, including volunteering with EyeCare America, being a member on the Medical Information Technology and the Computer-Based Patient Records Activities committees and serving as a media spokesperson. He is a former chief medical editor of Academy Express. In 1994, Dr. Iwach received the Academy's Honor Award and in 2004 he received the Senior Achievement Award. In 2011 he completed his term as secretary of communications on the Academy's Committee of Secretaries.
Dr. Iwach is executive director of the Glaucoma Center of San Francisco. He has been a member on the board of directors for the Glaucoma Research Foundation since 2000 and is currently its secretary of the board. He was appointed chair of the department of ophthalmology at St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in 1999 and has served as vice chair since 2002. He currently serves as a scientific reviewer for Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Surgery and Lasers and the Journal of Glaucoma.
In addition, Dr. Iwach is an associate clinical professor of ophthalmology in the department of ophthalmology at the University of California San Francisco. He is on the clinical faculty at California Pacific Medical Center. He teaches courses and lectures extensively on glaucoma, having presented more than 300 scientific lectures both nationally and internationally. Dr. Iwach is actively involved in clinical research as well. His research focus has included mitomycin-C use in filtering surgery, application of optical coherence tomography in glaucoma, selective laser trabeculoplasty, numerous drug trials and more. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. When he’s not working, Dr. Iwach enjoys traveling, mountain biking.
Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, PhD
Contact email: media@aao.org
Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and is appointed to the graduate faculty of the Neurosciences, Pharmacology and Cell Biology Programs. His research is directed at neuroprotection and regeneration of retinal ganglion cells and other retinal neurons, and his laboratory is developing novel stem cell and nanotherapeutics approaches for ocular repair. His clinical effort is focused on patients in need of medical or surgical intervention for glaucoma and other retinal and optic nerve diseases.
Dr. Goldberg has been honored by the NIH and his scientific peers with NIH funding for his laboratory, and was recently named the 2010 Scientist of the Year by the Hope For Vision foundation, and received the Cogan award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2012. He was elected in 2010 to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, an honorary society of physician scientists. His goal is to translate scientific discoveries to patient application, and he has already developed significant experience with implementing clinical trials, having successfully cleared two INDs through the FDA for Phase I trials, which began in 2011.
Dr. Goldberg received his B.S. magna cum laude from Yale University, and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University where he made significant discoveries about the failure of optic nerve regeneration. He did his clinical training in ophthalmology and then in glaucoma at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and was awarded a fellowship from the Heed Foundation.
John W. Kitchens, MD
Contact email: media@aao.org
Dr. Kitchens is an ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon with Retina Associates of Kentucky in Lexington. He focuses on the medical and surgical management of diseases of the retina. His interests include angiogenesis, innovations in retinal imaging and ocular trauma. He is also president-elect of the Kentucky Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons and has served as PAC chair and as treasurer for the organization.
Dr. Kitchens is an investigator for multiple clinical trials on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular occlusive disease, ocular histoplasmosis syndrome and visual rehabilitation. He has written papers and given presentations on topics including ocular imaging, macular holes, ocular histoplasmosis, AMD and innovations in surgical techniques and instrumentation.
He is an editor for the website Medrounds and a co-founder of Convene, LLC. Previously, he was the retina section editor for OphthalmologyWeb and co-editor of Ophthalmology Times' Grand Rounds.
Dr. Kitchens won first place in the Bloomberg Resident Cataract Video Competition sponsored by the American College of Eye Surgeons in 2003 and was given the Rhett Buckler Award for outstanding surgical video presentations at the 2008 and 2009 annual meetings of the American Society of Retina Specialists.
